Fr. JC Maximilian

Have I mentioned that I love my Mac? About a year and a half ago, after yet another crash of Windows XP, I decided to make the switch to Mac, and I have been so happy ever since.

Recently I upgraded my iLife software, and included in the new version is a program called iWeb. It makes it so simple for even a cyber-novice like myself to make one’s own webpage. Of course I am still just playing with it, figuring out what I want to do with it, what I want to put on it, but here is the link for my new website. You will find an introduction, a little about me, some pictures, and just added tonight, a blog page.

Now don’t worry. I am not going to abandon this blog. While I did post my “Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent” on that blogsite as well, I do not think I will be using that blog as much as this one on Blogger. There are two main reasons for that. First, I only have a limited amount of disk space on my .Mac account, so I can’t afford to use it all up. Second, I have not found a way on the iWeb site to had the ability for people to leave comments, and one of the things I like most about blogging is starting a coversation with people from all over the place. If I ever do on this blog what I have always intended, namely blog about the spiritual reading I am doing so that we can “discuss” good spiritual books, I will be very happy.

The next thing that I want to add to my new website, but I have to figure out a) how to do it, and b) what to say, is podcasting. It is suppose to be rather easy with GarageBand, but I just haven’t had the time to figure it out. Maybe in the near future you will even be able to hear me preach.

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You know that you have seen it. May be it was at a Thunder or Titans game. Maybe you were just watching a baseball, football, basketball, soccer or hockey game on TV, but you saw it. I do not go to many Rock concerts any more, but I am told that it shows up there as well. What I am talking about? You know, if you scan the crowd at a major sporting event or something like that you will see that one person holding a sign, just like this [HOLD UP SIGN WITH “JOHN 3:16”]. Here, I even made one for the deacon to hold.

John 3:16. Why a sign with this passage, from all the passages from Sacred Scripture? In today’s Gospel reading we hear this famous passage from St. John’s Gospel, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This is one of the most beautiful and most consoling phrases in the Bible. This, in a nutshell, IS the Good News: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

This is the proof of just how much God loves us; he gave us the very best that he had to offer – his only begotten Son who freely gave himself as an atoning sacrifice to God for our sake so that our sins, and the sins of the whole world, would be forgiven so that we can share the divine life as adopted sons and daughters in the Son of God. God did not give us something that was just “good enough,” rather he gave us the best for he gave us himself by giving us Jesus.

God’s love for us is limitless, so much so that it can be difficult to truly appreciate God’s love in our lives. However we can get hints of it in looking at the other loves that we experience in our lives.

Look at the love of a man and a woman. At first in the courtship there are exchange of gifts. Maybe it is a gift of flowers, candy, or jewelry. As the couple get to know each other better the gifts become more personal; maybe a home cooked meal, a love poem compose just for one’s beloved, a photograph with something special written on the back. Of course when the couple realizes that their love is true and lasting, they make that special, life-long commitment to each other that we call marriage. In marriage man and woman no longer merely exchange gifts which are “things,” rather now they make a total, loving gift of their very selves to each other, they give to their beloved the gift of their lives, so that “the two become one flesh.” It is this mutual gift of themselves that is the ultimate, and holiest, sign of their love for each other.

Often God blesses this union of love, the gift of husband and wife, with the fruitfulness of children. Now I know there are parents here; don’t you give many things to your children? Of course you give them food, shelter, clothing – all the basic essentials – but as any parent will tell you, that is just scratching the surface of what parents give their children. There are the gifts of toys, Nintendos or Playstations or Gameboys. There is the new bike, the swing set. Maybe it is that special vacation to Disney World. Of course the really special gift that parents give their children is their attention, their time, and their affection.

Some would say that the most basic gift that parents give their children is the gift of life. This is most certainly true, but too many people do not fully appreciate all that is part of this gift of life. Too often we focus just on the physical, but God made us both body and soul. There is a spiritual dimension to human life that parents are also called give to their children. When parents bring their children to the Church to have them baptized they are completing the gift of life that they began when the child was conceived in the womb. In baptism the stain of Original Sin is washed way, but just as important – really it is even more important – the child is made a Child of God and given a share in the Divine life by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Just as parents’ giving to their children does not end with their conception and birth, because they will continue to have physical and affective needs, so too parents must not neglect their children’s spiritual needs for ongoing gifts of love. Children must be given the gift of learning how to pray, so that they learn to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This means bringing your children to Mass each week, so that they can be nourished with the Word of God, and when your children are old enough they are also nourished with the Bread of Life, the Body and Blood of Jesus. I know young children can be a handful; I have nieces and nephews, and each week I see parents doing their best to get their children to “be quiet” and listen, but in the struggle is the evidence of just how important faith in God is. Of course, just as parents give their children the gift of education in reading, writing and math, parents need to give their children the gift of religious education so that they can learn more about Jesus who loves them so deeply, and how he wants them to live so that may have “life, life to the full.”

God’s love for us is also conjugal and parental. God, as Father, also gives us paternal love. Paternal love is encouraging, wanting his children to grow, and pushing them to give their very best. However paternal love is also correction. After the famous passage, John 3:16, we hear in today’s Gospel reading, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” Do not understand this as meaning that God does not intend to judge the world and us. Too often we think that to judge is to condemn, but very often we need to judge something in order to see what needs to be done to make things right. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” Through our sin we lost the gift of eternal life that God wants to share with us. In his incarnation, Jesus not only reveals perfectly God to us, but he also, as the Second Vatican Council teaches, “Reveals Man to Himself.” In other words, Jesus, by his life, death and resurrection, reveals to us how we are to live as the children of God. Jesus is the Light of the World, but as he notes in today’s Gospel reading, “people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.”

When we encounter Jesus, the Light of the World, when we enter into a personal relationship with him, we become aware of our sins. However our response to this awareness of our sins should not be despair and fear, wanting to hide from them by staying in the dark. Rather, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” Our encounter with God’s love should lead us to conversion, to repentance from our sins, so that we can experience God’s love poured out in mercy. When we do just this, then we can truly live out the theme of the Fourth Sunday of Lent – Laetare, which means, REJOICE!

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I actually wanted to wait to write this post until I could find a picture I have of Fr. Garrett Fitzgerald and myself, but alas, my stuff is still in boxes. Hopefully soon, I will be in my new office.

I kind of replaced Fr. Garrett Fitzgerald hear at Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony parish. He left here in early November 2005 to be the administrator (and probably pastor) of Holy Trinity parish in Long Branch. I was not a direct replace for him here, since I arrived about a month later. There was at first some minor confusion because of the similarity of our names; his first name was Garrett, which is my last name. We had joked about that over the past few years. When I was a deacon at Sacred Heart in Trenton, Fr. Garrett Fitzgerald came once to say Mass and someone (a non-Catholic employee) said, “Isn’t it nice that you are going into the same line of work as your father.” I had to explain that he was not my father. We would joke that he was Fr. Garrett “the First” and I was Fr. Garrett “the Last.”

Fr. Garrett “the First” was raised in the Bronx, NY, but studied for the priesthood for the Diocese of Trenton, being ordained in 1975. He served in several parishes in the Diocese of Trenton (the first being St. Jochiam in Trenton) prior to being “caught” in the split of the Diocese in 1981. He served the Diocese of Metuchen for 19 years, but then asked to return to his original diocese. A few days before I was ordained a priest I ran into Fr. Garrett Fitzgerald outside the Pastoral Center, and we had such a wonderful conversation. He was so joyful about my ordination, and joyful about being back in Trenton.

Fr. Garrett Fitzgerald became suddenly ill in the beginning of March, and they discovered a large, inoperable tumor in his liver. The doctors gave him only days to live, and much of it in pain. I, and many priests, visited him while in the hospital — he just loved being with his brother priests. In his suffering he was filled with grace. The final step for his being incardinated again into the Diocese of Trenton was finalized a few days before he died. He died a week ago at the age of 57; survived by his mother, a brother, many friends, and of course his brother priests.

Eternal Rest grant unto him O Lord, and may the perpetual Light shine on him. Rest in peace Fr. Garrett “the First” Fitzgerald.

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Why did Jesus die for us? Did you ask Him to die for you, for us? I know I didn’t, so why did Jesus die for us?

Today’s first reading, from the Book of Genesis, we start to see the answer. Abraham was called by God to leave his own family and his own land to travel to the Promise Land that God said He would give to him. Abraham believed that God would keep His promise, so went where the Lord called him to go. When God told Abraham, that despite his advanced age He provide Abraham a son, and make him into a great nation, Abraham believed and trusted in the Lord.

Now, in today’s reading we hear God put Abraham to the greatest test of his love for God, and his faith in the Lord. God tells Abraham, who waited so long for a son, to offer his son in sacrifice to the Lord. Who of us would have reacted as Abraham did? Would we give up what is most dear to us if God asked? If you read the complete passage from Genesis from which our first reading is taken you will see that Abraham even had his son carry the wood that he would use to offer his son in sacrifice. Not unlike how Jesus carried His own cross on which He was crucified.

There is suppose to be a parallel between Abraham’s faith that allowed him to offer all that he had to the Lord, in love, and how God so loved the world that He gave His only son to die for the salvation of the world.

So why did Jesus die for us? We need to keep in mind that all sin, even when it is an act against charity toward another human being, is an offense to God. Since God is infinite, in a real sense all sin is an infinite offense against God. Since sin destroys the divine life that God wanted to freely give to us, it took a sacrifice of a life to restore the life we lost. In the Old Testament we read about a lot of animal sacrifice to the Lord. However animal sacrifice is insufficient to make up for our sins offense against God for two reasons. First, because it was not the animal that sinned, we did. If you brother or sister did something wrong against you, would you think it be OK if their husband or wife apologized to you for what they did? No, we would think that the person who offended us should apologize. In the case of sin, that would me that a human sacrifice would be needed to atone for sin. We see that many of the ancient people surrounding Abraham kind of saw this insight because they did offer human sacrifice. However, we human beings are finite, so sacrifice one of us, even all of us, would not atone for the infinite offense which each of sins are to God who is infinite.

In asking Abraham to offer his son in sacrifice, God is not only testing Abraham’s faith in Him, but He is setting us up for learning what He was going to do for us to redeem us from our sins and restore us to His divine life. Jesus dies for us because He is the perfect victim. By taking on our human nature He is the appropriate sacrifice, and not an insufficient substitute. Being the infinite God, Jesus can take on all the sins of the world and be the infinite atonement for our sins’ infinite offense against God.

While this may explain the why Jesus, the Son of God, died for us, it really does not explain why neither you nor I would have asked Him to die for us. Of course the short answer to that is pride and fear. Pride and fear blind us to the revelation of God’s glory in our lives. “Faith enables us to see what is unseen to the naked eye. Through the eyes of faith Abraham recognized God’s call on his life. He saw from afar not only what God intended for him, but for his descendants as well — an everlasting covenant of friendship and peace with the living God. Abraham is the father of faith because he put his hope in the promises of God. Faith makes us taste in advance the light of God’s glory when we shall see him face to face (1 Cor. 13:12) as he is (1 John 3:2).

Are you prepared to see God’s glory? God is eager to share his glory with us! We get a glimpse of this when the disciples see Jesus transfigured on the mountain. Jesus’ face changed in appearance and His clothing became dazzling white. In this incident Jesus appeared in glory with Moses, the great lawgiver of Israel, and with Elijah, the greatest of the prophets, in the presence of three of his beloved apostles. What is the significance of this mysterious appearance? Jesus went to the mountain knowing full well what awaited Him in Jerusalem — His betrayal, rejection and crucifixion. Jesus very likely discussed this momentous decision to go to the cross with Moses and Elijah. God the Father also spoke with Jesus and gave his approval: This is my beloved Son; listen to him. While this transpired Peter, James, and John were asleep! Upon awakening they discovered the transfiguration of Jesus along with Moses and Elijah.

How much do we miss of God’s glory and action because we are asleep spiritually? There are many things which can keep our minds asleep to the things of God: Mental lethargy and the “unexamined life” can keep us from thinking things through and facing our doubts and questions. The life of ease can also hinder us from considering the challenging or disturbing demands of Christ. Prejudice can make us blind to something new the Lord may have for us. Even sorrow can be a block until we can see past it to the glory of God. Are you spiritually awake? Peter, James, and John were privileged witnesses of the glory of Christ. We, too, as disciples of Christ are called to be witnesses of His glory. We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another. The Lord wants to reveal His glory to us, his beloved disciples. Do you seek His presence with faith and reverence?”

(These last two paragraphs are from the meditation for this date from Mobile Gabriel; here).

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Today, Hamilton Township, NJ had its annual raising of the Irish Flag ceremony, kicking off about a week of celebrations for St. Patrick’s Day (OK, I don’t know why they start on March 8, and are over before the actual St. Patrick Day). This year’s Miss St. Patrick is a young lady from my parish. I am not sure why I was asked (but the pastor is named Gervasio, no Irish there, and the other priest is from the Phillippines, so me being the only redheaded Irish priest may have a bearing), to say the invocation at the Flag raising ceremony. Here’s my prayer:

God of Heaven and Earth,
As the Dark Ages spread though Europe, it was largely do to the faith of Irish monks that much of Western civilization was preserved.
As the darkness of the Culture of Death continues to spread through much of the world, may we respond to Your light of Truth with the same faith.
Amen

Then they told me that they also wanted me to say the final blessing, so with no prior thought I came up with this:

May the God of Love bless you with long life.
May the Mighty God continue to bless us with freedom, for which so many shed their blood.
And as the Irish say,
May you be in Heaven a half hour before the devil knows you are dead.

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Yesterday was my day off, so my mother and I decided to go to the Bronx. A couple of years ago I read in the travel section of a newspaper how the Bronx is becoming a vacation center here in the Northeast. Yes, I am talking about Bronx, NY. Hey, if some people like to do dangerous activities like rock climbing, scuba diving, or safari hunting on their vacations, and call it exotic, why not take a walk through the Bronx for a vacation?

Vacationing was not what Mom and I were doing in the Bronx. We went to St. Adalbert’s Parish, and the attached St. Crispin’s Friary. During one of my years as a deacon, I was assigned to the Sacred Heart House of Priestly Formation. There was another deacon assigned there with me, and three seminarians. One of those seminarians was attending Seton Hall University to finish his BA, and his name was Ian. When I was ordained a priest I was assigned to St. James Church in Red Bank, NJ, and around the corner from the church Ian’s parents has a store, so I got to know his family as well as see Ian frequently. After completing his undergraduate degree, Ian discerned that God was calling him to check out the Community of Franciscan Friars of Renewal (CFRs), the community started by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Fr. Andrew Apostoli, et al.

Ian spent about 6 months in postulancy at one of the CFRs parishes in NY, and then a year ago formally entered into novitiate with the CFRs in Newark, NJ. Ian was given the name Br. Luke Joseph of Red Bank (the CFRs continue the practice of giving new names to their members, and adding where they are from). I have kept in touch with Br. Luke Joseph during his time of novitiate. He shared with me that it was a time of joys, and some struggles, but definitely a time of drawing closer to the Lord.

Yesterday Br. Luke Joseph, and six other brothers, made their first professions; promising for a year to live the evangelical counsels while ministering in the CFRs. Br. Luke Joseph will continue his ministry at St. Felix’s in Yonkers. The Profession Mass was very nice. Of course the priests of the Order concelebrated, as did myself and a number of other priests who are friends of the Order. Frs. Groeschel and Apostoli were there. Also present were the Community of Franciscan Sisters of Renewal, the Sisters of Life, and the Missionary Sisters of Charity. The seven brothers were so very happy. One amusing moment was when the seven of them, quite quickly, removed their caperones; what looks like small, grey scapulars wore by the non-professed members of the community. Observing the number of caperones still present, it looks as if the CFRs will have a good number making first professions next year as well. The Church is blessed.

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I have spoken with quite a few priests, and most think that St. Gregory the Great made a mistake when he started this whole “ashes” thing. It is amazing how many people are so worried about getting ashes, yet many of them do not think twice about missing Mass on Sundays. Today the phone was ringing off the hook with inquiries as to when we were distributing ashes.

I had the 7 a.m. Mass this morning, and I was pretty impressed; we only had maybe 15% of the fairly large crowd leave after getting their ashes, but before receiving the Eucharist. At my previous parish it was so bad, 30-40% left before Communion. I even preached about it, saying that if they left before receiving Communion they were doing the very thing that Jesus condemned in the Gospel. Ashes are a valuable “sacramental” but like all sacramentals, they point to a deeper reality. The Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, are the reality.

The 12:15 p.m. service was a nightmare. It was at St. Anthony’s which holds about 1000 people, and there were probably between 500-600 people there. By the time I finished distributing ashes there were maybe 30 people left to pray the General Intercessions, Our Father, and receive the final blessing.

The more amusing thing today was this morning I received a call from the gym/health club I go to (I need to serious exercise and diet, so far I am sticking to it, but I have a long way to go). They wanted to know if I was coming to the club to exercise that afternoon. I said yes, and they said that they wanted me to bring ashes. I did, but we did go through the whole rite — readings and all. There was about 6 who attended, and they did a great job participating. They demonstrated real devotion. That, I don’t mind doing.

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